


⚜ Skull is Jack Frost

by Memorylane (Silvermags)



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-30 22:49:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17232629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvermags/pseuds/Memorylane
Summary: Happy New Year, everyone!  In honor of the holiday, have some Jack Frost!Written for the Blank Slate collection.





	⚜ Skull is Jack Frost

**Author's Note:**

> I had fully intended to post this as close to actual midnight as I could, but heck with that, ten minutes before is close enough, right? Have a happy new year, everybody!

The first time he wakes up, he’s in the hospital.  The nurses who came running told him that he’d been brought in about a week ago, by someone who’d found him by the side of the road.  There’d been no immediately apparent physical damage, but he’d spent the last week see-sawing wildly between extreme hypothermia and an extreme fever.  They asked him what his name was, if he had family they could contact.  He’d never been more frightened than the moment when he realized he didn’t know.

 

_ “Oh, this is horrible.  Jack’s lost his powers and his memories, and he can’t see us to help him!” _

_ “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to fix this.  It might just take time…” _

 

No one was quite sure how old he was, as he couldn’t tell them, and they couldn’t find any hint of who he might be anywhere.  Fingerprints had turned up a big fat nothing.  So, a few weeks after he’d woken up and the doctors had finally decided that whatever had been wrong with him before, he was over it, sixteen year old (probably) John Doe entered the foster care system.  Contrary to what books and movies would have you believe, it wasn’t bad at all.  His foster parents were a normal, loving couple who genuinely cared about the children they were responsible for.  John was happy there, and the couple were especially happy to have him because he was so good with the little ones.

 

_ “Some things never change, I suppose.” _

_ “Really shouldn’t be surprised he’s so good with ‘em.” _

_ “...” _

_ “You are right, Sandy.  He always was one of us.” _

 

When John turned eighteen and left the system, his first job was working a call center.  He hated it more than anything.  He quit the first chance he got and got a job with a traveling circus, mostly just lifting and carrying.  It was difficult and boring, but he enjoyed it much more than his previous position.  He loved to talk to the performers, and he badgered several of them into teaching him a few simple tricks.  That was how he got started on the motorcycle.  One of the stuntmen took it into his head that John would be good at it, and took John under his wing.  Not long after, Skull de Mort was born.

 

_ “On come on guys, it’s not that funny” _

_ “No offense, but it really is.” _

_ “...” _

_ “It is indeed quite amusing.” _

_ “We really shoulda known the showpony would go for something like  _ that _.” _

_ “Do not tell me you do not find it at least a little funny?” _

_ “Well, yeah, okay, it is a little funny.” _

 

Then one day, a few years after he started stunting, Skull was approached by a strange man after one of his performances.  Skull was understandably wary, but he agreed to listen to what the man had to say.

 

_ “No!  Don’t trust him, Jack!” _

_ “He can’t hear you.  He can’t hear any of us.” _

_ “I know, but he shouldn’t trust that man!  If he gets cursed again…” _

_ “We’ll get him back before they have a chance to.” _

 

Skull knew he should’ve listened to his instincts.  He hated everything about this situation.  That weirdo had kidnapped him, and now he was trapped in a big house in the middle of nowhere full of seven of the most dangerous raging lunatics he’d ever had the displeasure of meeting and no idea what they wanted from him.  How was he going to get out of this one?

 

_ “We are running out of time.  How is potion coming?” _

_ “It’s almost done.  Now it just needs to cure.” _

_ “And how long will that take?” _

_ “Six weeks, give or take.  It’d be longer, but Manny’s speeding up the process a little.” _

_ “Six weeks…  Hold on just a little longer, Jack.  We’re coming for you.” _

 

The curse was one of the most painful things Skull had ever experienced. He twisted and screamed on the ground as his body was warped and his power was ripped from him, and a tiny part of him thought “I’ve felt this before”.  When it was over, he laid still for a moment and panted shallowly, trying to get his breath back from where pain had stolen it, and stared at the faint half moon hovering in the blue sky.  It could’ve been his imagination, but he could’ve sworn it almost looked… angry.

 

_ “No! No, no, no, no, no.  We were so close to saving him and now…” _

_ “All hope is not lost.  Will the potion still work?” _

_ “Not unless we can get that second curse off him first.  Otherwise it’ll react to the belief magic, and that could have some nasty side effects.” _

_ “...” _

_ “I know, trust me, I know.  But it’s our only option.” _

_ “We will find a way to fix this.  I feel it.  In my belly.” _

_ “Yes.  We will.  Don’t worry, Jack.  We’ll fix this.  One way or another.” _

 

The decades following the curse were the worst of Skull’s life.  He couldn’t perform anymore, not without serious questions being asked and being either hunted down by one of the nutcases in the new world he’d been dragged into, or being put back into foster care like the child he looked like.  He ended up drifting, never staying in one place long, harried at every turn by “his fellow Arcobaleno”.  What a joke.  He wasn’t their fellow  _ anything.   _

 

_ “I hate seeing him like this.” _

_ “I know.  We all do.” _

 

When the curse broke, Skull was actually a bit distracted, watching the poor group of kids that Reborn shanghaied into fighting for him.  For a moment, he could’ve sworn he was looking at a different group of kids entirely, younger, more innocent, led by another boy with brown hair and eyes.  Then he blinked, and the resemblance was lost, and his attention was quite thoroughly captured by the breaking of the curse that had hung from his neck for so long.  He laid on his back, laughing a little breathlessly with relief and  triumph, and stared up at the faint half moon floating in the blue sky.  It could’ve been his imagination, but he could’ve sworn he heard it laughing along.

 

_ “Yes!  He’s finally free of that disgusting thing!” _

_ “Yes, one down, one left to be gone.  How long until we can give him the potion to fix him rest of way?” _

_ “We should wait until he’s a little older, you know, physically.  Probably be best to wait till he’s the same age physically as he was when he got the first curse.” _

_ “I don’t want to wait that long.  What if something else happens?” _

_ “Luckily, I think we can speed that up.” _

 

Skull grew an order of magnitude faster than anyone else who had suffered the curse.  Within a year he looked twelve, where they all looked maybe three, if that.  Predictably, they took this out on him.  Once again he found himself bouncing from place to place, but his time he was actively running from the sadists who seemed to feel his good luck was a personal affront.  He couldn’t remember the last time he was this tired.

 

_ “Why those little… I can’t even think of a word strong enough.” _

_ “...”  _

_ “Language, Sandy!  But I must agree.  How dare those monsters touch him.” _

_ “Don’t worry.  Just a few more months, and they’ll never touch him again.” _

 

Skull slept uneasily, tossing and turning as he tried to keep his weight off the new batch of bruises Reborn had given him before he managed to get away.  He looked about the same age now as he did when he first woke up in that hospital, all those years ago.  Slowly, ever so slowly, the window above his bed opened, and the curtains blew open, allowing a shaft of moonlight to shine on him.  A stream of floating golden sand drifted in and settled just above his head, soothing away the lines of pain marring his face and sending him into a deep, natural sleep.  Several shadows slipped into the room, carefully checking for anyone or anything that could’ve been left in the room before gathering to stand around Skull’s bed.  Large, calloused hands gently lifted him to a seated position and held his head steady, and a furry paw held a small bottle to his mouth.  Skull swallowed on reflex, then his no longer violet eyes fluttered open.  A woman with feathers on the back of her hands held out a tall staff with a hook at the end, and he took it.  He looked up at his fellow Guardians, and all five of them smiled.

 

The next day, when several of the former arcobaleno burst into the safe house to continue their game of tormenting Skull, they found nothing but an open window, piles of snow, and the words “don’t look for me” written in frost upon the mirror.  Miles away and high above the treetops, Jack Frost laughed as he rode the winds, happy and free.

**Author's Note:**

> So, the whole "Jack loses his powers for a while and has to live as a human" plot is actually a pretty common one in the ROTG fandom, and it works so beautifully with the Blank Slate collection. I just had to do it. Also, I love getting reviews, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, I will answer all of them to the best of my ability.
> 
> ⚜ _Memorylane (Silvermags) | Rise of the Guardians_
> 
> If you'd like to join as a writer tell us in a review!  
>  We enjoy having new writers in our group!  
>    
>  ⌢ o ⌢  
>  (/( ł )\\)  
>  (V  
>  \\\\\ ) ///  
>  GARDEN GNOMES  
>  “Every flower is a soul blooming”


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